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Designing the decades @ the V & A

On Saturday i went to the V & A for a study day about the 1950s. It was one of THE most interesting days imaginable, and it realy broadened my interest too.

The first speaker was Lily Crowther from the V & A research department. She was talking about the Festival of Britain, something that i am so fascinated by. The design style for the Festival was so forward thinking and whimsical, so completely different to what had come before. It really gave me an appreciation for Festival Hall, which i had always thought of as an ugly building, but once i really got to know about the different design features and realised how different it was to what had come before i suddenly gained a new appreciation for it!. See my pic, front cover from a may 1951 issue of Illustrated magazine.It was particularly interesting to find out about the log design. The patriotic colours combined with the bunting and the connections with the great British tradition of the village fete, but on a much larger scale.Also fascinating was seeing the pictures from the Battersea Pleasure garden. You can definitely see where Disney took inspiration from!